The high price of saving money

Today’s editorial: As schools and governments cut costs, they also cut responsibilites. Guess who picks up the slack?

_________________________

So much for a free public education: Families on average will spend as much as $250 just on school supplies this year, estimates the National Retail Federation. And that doesn’t include clothes or shoes.

Nice for the economy, perhaps, but not so great for parents. And while buying a few supplies — notebooks, paper, pens and pencils — has long been part of going to school, it seems to have gotten out of hand.

With all the cost cutting going on these days, we’d have thought schools would be especially sensitive to the need for families to pinch pennies. Perhaps institutions that measure things largely in millions, if not tens of millions, are still learning that lesson. Or perhaps, like governments in general, they’re looking to shed costs and pass them down the line. The problem is, after the federal government is done passing costs on to states, and states are done passing them on to local governments and school districts, there is only one place left to trickle down to: we, the people.

Tissues. Disinfectant. Toilet paper. Didn’t schools used to provide those kinds of things? Just what are they keeping in the janitor’s closet? And adhesive bandages? Isn’t that stock in trade for the nurse?

The precisely described notebook design. The specific array of folder colors. Post-its. Headphones. Hand sanitizer. Dry erase markers. Tennis balls (not for playing with, but to reduce chair squeaking). And if you’ve got an older student, a scientific or graphing calculator — which, incidentally, the state Education Department says schools, not parents, must provide if they’re part of the curriculum. But that doesn’t stop the item from showing up on student supply lists, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found.

As they say in gym: A little help, please?

Actually, says Mr. DiNapoli, schools could help parents ease up on the cost. With the help of bulk purchasing or group contracts, New York parents could trim their estimated spending on supplies of $192 million by $47 million. Lots of things that are bought new each year — such as rulers, compasses and scissors — could be reused or shared. And an earlier heads up on those lists would allow parents to buy things on sale rather than have to scurry at the last minute when prices tend to be high, perhaps double what they might be in mid-summer.

But don’t get too hopeful, New Yorkers. As governments scramble to cut costs amid declining tax revenue and aid, they’re only likely to expect regular people to do more. And so we should only expect more cost-saving ideas from government, like asking people to take the garbage out when they’re done camping on the islands in Lake George.